"AFRICAN GAME TRAILS"
tage of every patch of cover, I crawled
toward it on all-fours, my rifle too hot
for me to touch the barrel, while the
blistering heat of the baked ground hurt
my hands. At a little over a hundred
yards I knelt and aimed at the noble
beast. I could now plainly see his huge
bulk and great, massive horns, as he stood
under a tree."
The first shot brought
him down.
"Meanwhile Kermit had
killed two eland-a cow on the first day,
and on the second a bull even better
than, although not quite so old as, mine.
Kermit could see game and follow tracks
almost as well as his gun-bearers, and
in a long chase could outrun them."
But to save the three big skins in that
climate was even harder work than the
many hours of hunting had been, but they
did it, though it took till midnight to get
the skins in proper condition for trans
portation.
The buffaloes, and particularly the
very rare square-nosed or "white" rhino,
demanded even greater exertions of the
party. Of the square-nosed rhino (see
pages 958, 959) only two specimens, and
both very poor ones, had been previously
secured for any museum, one being at
Berlin and the other at London. Mr
Roosevelt shot five splendid specimens
in the Lado and Kermit four, and all
nine animals were saved for the U. S.
National Museum.
No one can read the volume without
being impressed by the serious purpose
of the leader and of every member of his
staff. This was in no sense a hunting
party for the collection of record heads
and horns, but an expedition organized,
equipped, and directed by some of the
ablest naturalists in the world, all of
whom were animated with the sole am
bition to bring back some contribution to
science.
While the leader and his son were
toiling strenuously for the big - game
specimens, Major Mearns, Dr Loring,
and Mr Heller were collecting and trap
ping (they took hundreds of traps with
them) long series of rats, mice, squirrels,
monkeys, shrews, bats, lizards, reptiles,
birds, fishes, and plants. Every man had
his particular field of work and did it
well, with the result that our National
Museum will possess the finest and most
valuable collection of African fauna in
any museum.
Mr Roosevelt during the trip shot
with the rifle 296 big game and Kermit
216-a grand total of 512.
"Kermit and
I kept about a dozen trophies for our
selves; otherwise we shot nothing that
was not used either as a museum speci
men or for meat-usually for both pur
poses. We were in hunting grounds
practically as good as any that have ever
existed; but we did not kill a tenth nor
a hundredth part of what we might have
killed had we been willing. The mere
size of the bag indicates little as to a
man's prowess as a hunter, and almost
nothing as to the interest or value of his
achievement."
To the writer of this review, "African
Game Trails" appeals as the strongest
and best work of literature Mr Roosevelt
has yet written. The word pictures are
extraordinarily vivid and realistic. He
who seeks stories of adventure will be
entranced by the many strange situations,
and will rejoice in such descriptions as
that of the hunt of a lion by the naked
Nandi warriors armed only with shields
and spears.
"One by one the spearmen came up,
at a run, and gradually began to form
a ring round him. Each, when he came
near enough, crouched behind his shield,
his spear in his right hand, his fierce,
eager face peering over the shield rim.
As man followed man, the lion rose to
his feet. His mane bristled, his tail
lashed, he held his head low, the upper
lip now drooping over the jaws, now
drawn up so as to show the gleam of the
long fangs. He faced first one way and
then another, and never ceased to utter
his murderous grunting roars. It was a
wild sight-the ring of spearmen, intent,
silent, bent on blood, and in the center
the great man-killing beast, his thunder
ous wrath growing ever more dangerous.
"At last the tense ring was complete,
and the spearmen rose and closed in.
The lion looked quickly from side to
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